Redhawk Caldera A morning of hunting rabbits and hares

Novia stretched out her legs, ready for a decent hunt. Soon padding off she caught the smell of a hare, Just my luck! The young female thought to herself. She stalked the hare while it grazed soon catching it after a bit of a chase. She panted for a little, soon going to bring the hare back. It tasted good, but she would bring it for the pack. Soon walking back in, with her caught prey, she gently put it down. For someone to have, at the moment she wasn't quite hungry. She looked to the early the clouds coming by the sun, to hide it in a partly cloudy day. That gave the young wolf an idea, she'd hunt a few more until the alpha was content.

I will be PPing @Magpie in this thread. :)

It was no secret that Magpie was particularly adept at hunting rabbits. Wildfire followed the yearling to one of the local warrens, excited to watch her aunt at work. It didn't matter to her that they came here roughly once a week and it was pretty much the same show every time. She did not aspire to be a Gamekeeper herself but watching Magpie slay rabbit after rabbit never failed to impress her. And she also enjoyed the resulting feast!

When they arrived at their destination, they were not alone. Magpie instructed Wildfire to stay close beside her as they approached the unfamiliar she-wolf. "You must be new. I'm Magpie and this is my niece, Wildfire," the huntress introduced. "We came to hunt some rabbits too." Her lime green eyes shifted to the pup, permitting her to speak.

"Hi," she said shyly, biting the inside of her cheek. She sort of wished the stranger wasn't here, yet Wildfire reminded herself that Warriors were brave. "You can call me Wifi. What's your name?"

Novia smiled at the young wolf saying "I'm Novia, pleasure to meet you." Then looking to Magpie she said "Yes I am new, my name's Novia." She looked at the rabbit saying "You two, may have this rabbit if you wish." The young she-wolf was gladly able to give her kill to the two. She

"No thank you," she said a bit quickly, not at all comfortable with taking food from a stranger. She glanced at Magpie, who nodded encouragingly. Wildfire then turned back and explained to Novia, "We came here to hunt. Well, Aunt Mag is gonna hunt. I'm gonna watch."

"Maybe you can watch us both," the yearling suggested, then added, "I'm going to get to work." She offered Novia a smile before trotting away several yards to begin nabbing rabbits. It was clear she was happy to hunt by herself or tag-team with the newcomer.

But Wildfire had other plans for the newbie. She had spotted an opportunity to practice some bravery. "Where'd you come from?" she blurted a bit awkwardly at Novia. Clearly, small talk was not one of the youngster's fortes.

Novia smiled at the young pup's curiousity, "I came from a place far away from here." 

Hey, would you mind posting at least 4-5 sentences per post? It makes it difficult to reply when posts are so brief. Thanks! :)

Novia answered rather vaguely, not that Wildfire knew any better. Her worldview was pretty limited thus far, though she was going to change that soon. She had gotten her first real taste of exploration just the other day and already she hungered for more.

"How far?" she pressed, sparing an idle glance past Novia's shoulder to watch as Magpie suddenly sprang into action, a black and white blur who thrust half her head into a rabbit hole and then dragged a squirming hare from the earth like a root vegetable. The puppy smiled at the yearling's success, then her eyes drifted back to Novia, expectant.

Far enough from the outskirts of the territory to feel safe from attack, Shego moved in a wily manner around the borders, sniffing around.

She would check everywhere to see if her sisters soul had been implanted in any young being... and she could smell the youth here.

"A young, slight, sweet child
Will see me and know
That the two Fates that linger
Are calling Her home..."

The lilting melody was one she and Clotho had sung to Lakhesis, or that they sang to her; when one of them was missing, this was how they were found, when they had lived and breathed. Would someone recognize the melody?

Thanks so much for rescuing this thread! Feel free to curse Wildfire if you want. ;)

Novia offered another vague answer and the pup found herself losing interest quickly. Wordlessly, she scooted closer to where Magpie deftly dispatched rabbit after rabbit. She prepared to hush Novia should she try to keep up the conversation, yet the silence continued. After a few minutes, the pup glanced over her shoulder to find that Novia had left.

She watched Magpie a while, then grew a bit bored of that as well and began to saunter a bit further down the borderline, sniffing here and there. When she heard a voice singing in the distance, Wildfire froze, ears cupping forward. Her eyes narrowed. She glanced over her shoulder to see that her young aunt was still busily trapping hares.

Careful to remain within sight, Wildfire slowly trotted toward the singing voice and spotted a dark figure in the distance. She stopped again, black tail limp but head held high. Eyes, ears and nose all remained active as she tried to figure out who this wolf was and what she was doing here at the caldera, singing songs.

A babe came out from the distance, but her coat was one of bright blood-reds. Those of the Moirai were black or they were white; they were nothing in between. But... but she had come to the summons. Clotho's sense of humor was as sick as it was skewed, and that she decide life for herself here, in a new body dressed in red, would be her cosmic joke to those Gods that thought her weak. She was defiant and cruel, but at the very least, she stuck to her duty.

"Come here, little girl," she summons again in a sing-song voice, "Come nearer to me, blood-red beauty," she paws at the earth, to appear meek and inviting both.

She felt the weight of the stranger's bright green eyes, even from a distance, and a slight shudder traveled down her spine. Wildfire did not move any closer, held back simultaneously by her trepidation around strangers and fear of being rebuked by Magpie. When the dark she-wolf called out to her in a singsong voice, inviting her closer, it had the opposite effect on the youngster. She began to backpedal.

And, suddenly, Magpie was right there at her shoulder, barking, "You stay away from her!"  Wildfire jumped slightly, then crouched as the yearling's voice cracked through the air, though she straightened out somewhat when she realized her aunt was snapping at the strange interloper. "Get lost!"

As the other backpedaled, Shego's once peaceful countenance rippled into one of outrage. Hateful eyes glowered at Wildfire, the deceptive wretch who was lured by song but frightened by request. And then another wolf came along, oddly colored. Telling her to go.

Shego's eyes did not move from Wildfire, however. She began to step away, obedient, but her eyes... they held hungrily to the growing girl, but without any desperation.

"Fear is near and it never escapes,
may it cling to your heart for as long as it takes

And when you are sick with it that you wish not to wake,
Look over your shoulder and call to the Fates."

A manic laugh bubbled from her throat as she finished her curse.

She wanted Wildfire to call to her, to wish for her presence; this curse, if effective, would do just that. As she hobbled backward, she tore her own flesh and spit her blood and fur from her lips; an offering to her Gods, and then, Shego was off, breaking eye contact with the cub.

The queer stranger seemed undeterred by the two small she-wolves, though she began to move away after a moment. Wildfire could still feel that leering gaze from afar and she swallowed, then glanced at Magpie. Her attention snapped back to the interloper when she sang out a final time, her lilting voice creating a macabre sort of poem. She laughed maniacally at the end, then appeared to attack herself as she finally moved further way, eventually disappearing from view.

The bewildered youngster stared after her for a long time, then finally asked, "What...?" At the same time, Magpie said, "Well, that was weird as f—" Luckily, the youngster's question caused her to cut off before she could start swearing and the adult smirked softly. "She was a crazy lady," she said reassuringly, though her lime green eyes were hard as they peered at the spot where the peculiar woman had vanished.

"Come on, let's grab the rabbits and head home, all right?" the yearling said in the next breath, giving Wildfire a nudge and motioning for her to follow. Wildfire did as she was told, though she stared over her shoulder even as she tagged along. She felt uneasy, though all of that was forgotten when she stumbled and smacked her face in the earth. With a sigh, she gathered herself and took off after Magpie again, keeping her focus ahead rather than behind.